Stencil-machine



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

A. J. BRADLEY.

STBNGIL MACHINE.

No. 494,546. Patented Apr. 4. 1893.

fn/.f4 IIIIII.

(No Model.)

Patented'Apr. 4

- (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

A.J.'BRADLEY. STENGIL MACHINE.

No. 494,546. Patented Apr. 4, 1893.

may We UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREIV J BRADLEY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

STENClL-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATIO forming part of Letters Patent No. 494,546, dated April4,1893. Application tied May 31, Y1392. seria No. 434,938. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANDREW J. BRADLEY, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Stencil-Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to stencil machines, and has for its object toproduce a machine whereby proper characters may be cut or punched insuitable plates or blanks, for the purpose of making stencils, shippingbrands and like articles.

My invention consists in the construction and combination of partshereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure1 is a transverse vertical sectional view of the machine. Fig. 2represents the front elevation of the machine. Fig. 3 is a plan view ofpart of the machine with a small portion of this partshown in section.Fig. 4 is a detail sectional View of the feed mechanism, the plane ofsection passing between the ratchet wheel and the feed rollers, and therollers being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 5 is a detail view of a pairof male and female dies.

The main framework, 1, of the machine is preferably fixed or stationary,and is provided with a suitable number of dies conveniently locatedthereon. A movable carriage, 2, travels upon guides on the framework,and carries a plunger for operating the dies and also a feed mechanismfor determining the proper position of the blank to be operated upon.

The main frame, 1, is provided in its upper portion with a series ofopenings, 3, arranged in line and preferably along the edge of theframe. In each of these openings, 3 is a male die or punch, 4, held inits upper position by a spring, 5. These springs permit of a downwardmovement of their respective dies or punches upon the application of aforce to said dies and automatically lift said dies to their upperpositions when the force or pressure is removed. As shown in thedrawings, the spring, 5, may be a horizontal helical wire having one endprojecting to extend into the die or punch, and the other end bearingdownwardly against a fixed projection from the main frame. Directlybelow the male dies or punches and in line with the springs, 3, in theupper portion of the main frame, are openings, 6, also in the mainframe. Each of these openings, 6, is provided with a cap or coveringplate, 7, preferably of steel, rigidly fastened to the main frame. Thesecaps or covers, 7, constitute the female dies or counterparts, and areprovided with holes, 8, eX- tending therethrough, the edges of which areof any desired outlines, but preferably each opening is the shape of 'aparticular letter or figure, and the lower end ofthe corresponding maledie has the same outline as the opening, and is of such a size that itbarely enters said opening in the female die. The edges of the dies aresharp and the lower surface of the male dies is inclined so that in thedownward movement of the dies, one end will reach the edge of thecounterpart and then only a small portion of the edges of the pair ofdies will bein the same plane at any one time. By this construction, theblanks are cut as by shears rather than punched, so that the edges ofthe stencil are clean and clear.

The movable carriage or carrier, 2, is provided with rollers, 9, whichtit on guides or rails, l0, on the stationary frame. Pivoted to theupper portion of this carriage, is a hand lever, 11, normally held inits upper position by means of a spring, 12, bearing against said leverat one end and against said carrier at the other end. Pivoted to theother side of the handle is a link, 13, whose other end is pivoted to aplunger, 14. This plunger fits and moves in an opening through thecarrier, said opening being so located that the plunger is directlyabove the line of dies. Each male die has a notch, 15, in its side andthe punch has a hooked projection, 16, which extends from its side andengages the notch in the die immediately below it. In case the diesshould fit so tight that the die spring, 5, should not be strong enoughto lift the die, the upward movement ofthe plunger with its hookedprojection will insure the return of the die to its proper position.This projection also serves as an indicator and guide fordetermining'the position of the carriage. For

the stationary frame, provided with a char- IOO acter or otherindicating device in front of each die to designate the particularcharacter which that die cuts. This face plate has its upper edgeprovided with notches or guide openings, 18, of a depth and width topermit free downward movement of the plunger projection. The upperportion of the openingis wider than the lower and has its sides inclinedso that when the plunger` is approximately 'in position, its downwardmovement will cause the projection to strike against the inclined sideon which it slides, carrying with it the carriage, until it reaches theproper position. The inclined portion of the notch is of such a heightthat the projection registers with the straight portion before the diereaches the blank. The movable carriage also has a device for holdingthe blank in position and a mechanism for automatically feeding theblank so that successive characters will be cut at the proper points.The carrier has a portion, 19, which extends down below the dies and isprovided with a pivoted lever, 20, held upward by the pressure of aspring which bears upward against said lever. The outer end of the leveris forked and each fork is provided with a roller, 2l, preferablycorrugated, whose axis is horizontal and perpendicular to the line ofdies. Above these rollers are rollers, 22, which turn on axles journaledto the movable carriage and are preferably corrugated to correspond withthe lever rollers. The purpose of this portion of the mechanism isparticularly to hold the blank in position. The pairs of corrugatedrollers are separated by depressing the pivoted lever, and the blank,23, to be operated upon is inserted between the pairs of rollers, thelower portion of the :fixed rollers being arranged to belower than thelower edge of the male dies in their normal position, and slightlyhigher than the female dies. The frame should have an open space,24,extending backwardly a considerable distance from said dies, to admit ofoperating'on the edge of a large plate, and extending a distance beyondeach end of the line of dies so as to permit any part of such plate tobe moved under all the dies. The frame shown in the drawings is C-shapedin cross section and open at each end; and the dies are arranged alongthe open side.

In order to insure that the blank will not be displaced by the die, thecarrier is provided with a depending plate bent inwardly so that thebent portion, 25, will be below the male dies; and in line with thepunch is an opening, 26, in said bent portion large enough to allow thelargest die to pass through. Then the die cuts the blank, this plateprevents the blank from becoming displaced.

A reversible feed mechanism is provided on the movable carrier as shownin Figs. 2 and 4. This feed mechanism consists of a vertically movableframe, 27, normally held in an upward position by a spring, 2S, fast tothe movable carriage. The frame, 27, is provided with pins, 29, whichpass through slots, 30, in the carriage, the ends of the slots being thelimits of movement of the frame. This frame has an arm, 3l, fixedthereto, and extending into the path of the projection of the plunger,so that when the plunger is depressed, the frame is lowered. On theaxles, 32, of the upper corrugated rollers, are respectively a right anda left ratchet wheel, 33. Spring pressed pawls, 34, are pivoted on thelower portion of the movable frame in positions to engage said ratchetwheels respectively. A lever, 35, pivoted at its center to said frame,and having its ends bent under said pawls respectively, lifts one pawlor the other out of engagement with its ratchet according as it istilted one way or the other. This lever has a handpiece which Iits andis locked in notchesin a piece fast to the movable frame. The downwardmovement of the frame lowers the pawl which is pressed into engagementwith the teeth of the wheel and the upward movement of the frame causesthe ratchet wheel to turn its corrugated roller, and thereby move theplate forward a space. A handle, 36, is plovided for spacing independentof the plunger.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The lever, 20, is depressedt0 separate the corrugated rollers, between which the blank to beoperated on is inserted, and adjusted in such a position that the pointwhere the first character is to be cut will be directly below theplunger. rlhe lever is then released and the carriage is moved by meansof the handle, l1, until the projection from the plunger is above thecharacter indicated on the face plate. The hand-lever is then depressed,driving the plunger down and with it the male die which cuts the blanklike a pair of shears, and also carrying down with it the movable frameof the feed mechanism. When the pressure on the hand-lever is relieved,the hand-lever rises, with the punch, being either lifted by itsparticular spring, or by the proj ection from the punch. The spring, 28,

raises the movable frame, 29, which thereby causes one or the other ofits pawls to turn the corresponding ratchet wheel, according to the waythe lever is tilted. The turning of the ratchet wheel rotates itscorrugated roller, which moves the blank one space so as to present anew surface for the next operation. The feed mechanism thusautomatically determines the space to be cut for the next character, andso for each succeeding character.

The particular advantages of this machine are its simplicity ofconstruction and operation, and the compact arrangement-of itsdies.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A machine comprisinga main frame having a series of correspondingmale and female dies, a movable carriage on said frame and a plunger onsaid carriage over said male dies whereby it is adapted to actsuccessively upon IOO IIO

- all the male dies of the series and a reversi-l ble feed mechanism onsaid carriage, substantially as described.

2. A machine comprising a main frame having a series of correspondingmale and female dies, a movable carriage on said frame, pairs ofseparable rollers secured to said carriage, and means for holding therollers of a pair against each other and an independently actingfeedmechanism for said rollers, substantially as described.

3. Amachine comprising a main frame having aseries of corresponding maleand female dies, a movable carriage on said frame, a lever pivoted tosaid carriage, and rollers on said lever and rollers journaled to saidcarriage, cooperating with the rollers on said lever, and provided withreversible feed mechanism, substantially as described.

4. A stencil machine comprising a main frame having a series ofcorresponding male and female dies, a movable carriage on said frame anda plunger on said carriage whereby it is adapted to act on all the maledies of the series, and pairs of separable rollers secured to saidcarriage, and means for holding the rollers of a pair together, the axleof one of said rollers having a ratchet Wheel fixed thereto, a frame onsaid carriage movable independently-of said plunger and carrying a pawlfor engaging saidI ratchet wheel, said frame being in the path of saidplunger and .provided with a retracting device, substantially asdescribed.

5. A feed-mechanism consisting of a carriage, a frame movably securedthereto, and a retracting device therefor, two pairs of rollersjournaled to said carriage, right and left I ANDREW J. BRADLEY.`

Witnesses:

JAMES A. CARR, T. PERCY CARR.

